Since you live south of 466A, I am going to assume you have CenturyLink service via fiber optic cable to the house. If you see a box on the outside of your house then you have fiber optic to the house. If that is indeed the case, what you have inside your house is a router and not a modem or a modem/router. The router provides WiFi service as well as several RJ-45 ethernet ports for wired connectivity. The "modem" functionality is provided by the ONT box on the outside of your house. The significance of this is that you can actually plug a device (such as a computer) into the RJ-45 wall jack where your router is currently connected (via ethernet cable). If you are experiencing slow performance such as 3 megabits per second (via WiFi, I assume) then you probably have a WiFi issue and not a CenturyLink bandwidth issue. To check for sure, plug a computer directly into the RJ-45 wall jack (where your router is connected currently) and point your browser at speedtest.net and see what sort of bandwidth you are getting. If you don't see something close to the 25 megabits per second that you are suppose to be seeing then you should call CenturyLink and open a ticket. To repeat, you need to run the test with a wired connection to rule out a WiFi issue.
If you do see download bandwidth of close to 25 megabits per second with a wired connection to the RJ-45 wall jack but continue to see slow WiFi performance then you might want to consider replacing the CenturyLink provided router with a "mesh router". You can google "mesh routers" to learn more about them. They will provide you with more uniform WiFi performance across your house with a single naming construct.
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Originally Posted by HIgolfers
Have had Century Link for home WIFI for 2 1/2 years and fed up with the slow speed. Paying $45 for 25 MBPS but not getting anywhere near that (some days slow as 3 MBPS). We live south of 466a and N of 44. Looking at switching to Spectrum. Spectrum offers one year deal for $45 per month for 100 MBPS and modem is free. A router is $5 extra per month. Do I need a router?
Obviously I am a novice when it comes to tech stuff. With Century Link all we have is a modem (which CL provided) - we are not renting the modem as it does not appear on our Century Link bill but I presume I will have to return it when I cancel service with CL. Or perhaps the CL modem is a combined modem/router?
I know I can buy a router or rent the one SPectrum offers but just wondering if I need it all. We use WIFI to for 3 televisions (all 3 use Amazon firestick and YOUTUBE TV) and for smartphones and MACBOOK, and Alexa. We also have a NETGEAR extender.
TIA for any guidance.
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